3 Tips to Achieve Your Goals Even When Life Gets In The Way
Do you ever struggle with too much to do and not enough time? It’s a recurring theme in my life, and I know many other business owners run into this snag over and over again too. Too often, it seems like life simply takes over, and all those well-intentioned goals simply never see fruition.
Sometimes the time crunch is so overwhelming that it feels impossible to even set goals. Or other times, we’re able to set the goals clearly enough but then struggle with the follow-through because other things get in the way.
How can you make sure you reach your goals in the midst of so many distractions? How do you keep from getting overwhelmed and stay in action?
Although I certainly don’t have any magic answers, I do have 3 tips to share with you to help you achieve your goals even when life gets in the way.
1. Have a strong WHY for each of your goals.
Achieving goals takes work. There’s no question about it. You’ll often feel like you’ve hit a wall or dip with even the best of goals. But this natural level of work involved with reaching a purpose-filled goal is very different than the painful slog of trying to push through a goal that simply doesn’t resonate for you on any level.
Start with an emotionally compelling purpose for why you are taking this particular action or setting this specific goal. Every goal should support the big WHY fueling your life. Sometimes you’ll have a smaller WHY attached to individual projects or programs too, but make sure they still align with your big WHY.
It is also helpful to set goals with a bigger picture in mind — where do you want to be down the road? — and work backwards. Once you understand where you are heading, you can be very purposeful in setting intentional goals that will move you towards your dreams.
And don’t forget to give yourself permission to ditch any goals you’ve set that don’t fit with your big WHY or the bigger picture you have for your life and business.
2. Create systems to keep you on task with your goals.
Our environments are an amazingly powerful force for either supporting us in achieving our goals or derailing us from our vision. And systems are one of the best-kept secrets in your environment for making success easier.
By systems, I don’t simply mean buying the right computer programs to track all your critical business data. Systems could include things like tweaking your environment or forming habits to keep you on track. (One of my favorite “magic” solutions for creating new habits is piggy-backing, which I blogged about here.)
Not all systems are created equally, and there is no one-size-fits-all. Play around with which systems work for you and your personal style. The important thing to remember with systems is that their purpose is to take some of the emotional and mental struggle out of achieving your goals and make success much more automatic.
3. Get support in reaching your goals.
Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It takes the support of people who care about you and buy into your WHY to help you reach your goals. Especially when the going gets tough and life gets in the way!
It doesn’t really matter who these people are. They could include a coach or mentor, employees, a mastermind team, your family, or friends. But do make sure your support people understand what you are trying to achieve and are willing to hold you to reaching your dreams no matter what distractions pull you off track.
There are no sure-fire guarantees for reaching all your goals in life and business. But if you follow these three tips, I do promise it will make achieving success much easier even when life gets in the way.
